Hidden Agenda

Rating:
Summary: an agenda not so occult
Review: This movie is excellent, but one thinks after having seen it that humanity not only has physical or mental limits but ethical ones also, and that is preferable not to rub them.
When I was a child I heard for first time to speak about the OAS, the armed secret organization that wanted to eliminate De Gaulle. Franco protected the OAS discreetly at the time in Spain for being related to the extreme right wing. The film "Day of the Jackal" shows these days.
Before that, my parents knew the "Maquis": the attempt of invading Spain at the finish of II World War across the difficult valley of Aran in the Pyrenees. These experienced "Red" guerrillas hardened in two wars and with allied armament thought that the allies would help, but it was not like that and they were exterminated by the Spanish army in a obscure but expeditious form. The last episode was that of the GAL, a parapolicial group which was created in the decade of the 80's to finish with ETA's terrorism, the separatist Basque organization. His methods were coarse and they performed brutally open confrontations sometimes even in the streets of France so the scandal was too big and Spanish government had to stop these crude actions. France protected for a long time ETA, going on to Spain an invoice for the episode of the OAS. Well, in this movie is shown an equally dark episode on the performance of forces against the IRA. I think "hidden agendas" are owned by parts, but not all the members of the different governments excepting when there are a dictatorship.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, Accurate Depiction of British Rule in N.Ireland
Review: This movie, like "In the Name of the Father" and others, will leave you appalled and depressed about the ruthlessness and deceit of the British rule in Northern Ireland (just as in the Republic of Ireland, before its independence). Frances McDormand is, as usual, excellent in the role of a representative of an international group concerned about civil rights violations throughout the world and, in this particular case, Northern Ireland. The scenes dealing with the IRA (back rooms, Republican clubs, etc) and the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary, i.e., the British police force) are gritty, sinister, and very convincing. Brian Cox, in a performance to match McDormand's, plays an honest investigator sent over to determine the truth of the killing of an American member of the civil rights organization and the progress of his inquiry and the roadblocks he encounters which finally defeat him and destroy his integrity are depicted with chilling accuracy. This is a gripping and, ultimately (sad to say),demoralizing film about the "Troubles" which still plague Northern Ireland.

Rating:
Summary: Good film with good performances
Review: This was a good thriller with (from a Brits perspective) a rather frightening story line. It does however make me laugh that if such a film were made against US injustices eg. Camp X-Ray they would be labelled un-american, and yet the British audience didn't take such offence at this one.